| Gentle Readers, What follows is the draft script for a BBC domestic broadcast they want to air before the election to help the locals understand what the Cousins are up to. We'll see how they like it. 21 October 2006 The Gee-Wot I don't know what to call this war anymore. At it's beginning, I was still a Spook in the secret world. After 9/11, we called it the “GWOT,” from the acronym for Global War on Terror. My son is now in the family business and I'm retired. He calls it the Gee-Whot, emphasis on the “Gee,” and is still awkward. Defense Secretary Rumsfeld tried to rename it. He tried “The Long War,” to get us used to the idea that the struggle against terror would last decades. The Administration says they have kept us safe since 9/11: no more attacks on US soil, though Bali and Madrid and London have paid dearly. Maybe the massive Homeland Security bureaucracy and thousands of new analysts and administrators in the Intelligence Community has done the trick. I give them a passing grade on sincerity. My pals in the business tell me plots have been foiled. I suspect some strategic-thinking terrorists are willing to put the American targets on the back-burner for now. Osama bin-Laden made a huge mistake in awaking the giant before the time was right. Their battle now is overseas, with the intent to make NATO cut and run, and make the Brits and Canadians weary. They want America alone, as Britain stood in 1940. We lack the Churchill to lead us. He remains a popular icon in America, and perhaps he could explain that the belt-bombing has not begun because the time is not right. The Bad Guys want attention focused on Baghdad, on this war's version of the Tet Offensive in Vietnam. We won that battle but lost the war. The terrorists are not stupid. Just impulsive, sometimes. I flew to London four years ago to discuss counter-terror matters with New Scotland Yard. Over drinks at the Special Forces Club one night, I asked a grizzled veteran how they had defeated the IRA. He grimaced ironically and said: “We surrendered.” I was stunned, but heard the kernel of uncomfortable truth in his words. The Long War is not going to last much past election day. The Democrats seem certain to take the House, and the issues are about trust. I live in a Blue county, ethnically diverse and thoroughly liberal. I am going to vote against the incumbent County Council, not over the war on terror but to oppose the purely personal terror of the hefty annual car tax. My vote won't matter in the House race. This congressional district will re-elect the incumbent Democrat. My vote may only count in the Senate, where the Republican incumbent is stumbling. His opponent used to be a member of the Grand Old Party, too, but he turned his coat. In Vietnam, the new Democrat won the Navy Cross for valor. I'll try him this time, and damn the consequences. Whatever you call it, the war will be coming here again. It's not “if,” but “when.” It is all a matter of timing, just like the real election that will happen in 2008. Copyright 2006 Vic Socotra |